Thursday, June 3, 2010

I am doing some new exercises which involve taking a scripture passage and rewriting it as it connects to your life. It is not meant to "trump" scripture in any way but rather to personalize the words of Christ and reflect on them. It is helpful.God has been pushing me to share the faith aspects of my heart. I am typically a private person and although I love conversation and reflection, I tend to keep my thoughts and feelings to myself. While that can be good and admirable at times, it can also lead me to over privatizing things and keeping God's work in my life to myself. While guarding your heart can be good...God's work is MEANT to be shared. God shares with us and works in our life so that we may testify to it. So, I'm working on being better at that. In the spirit of that goal, here is one of my attempts at Scripture connection (which is what I call it). I highly recommend trying it.

Here is the scripture:

Ephesians 1: 3-143Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he[a] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he[b] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11In him we were also chosen,[c] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

Here is my rewriting:

Thanks be to God, my Father, who blessed me, Kristin, with everything I could possibly need. From basic needs like food, water, shelter, health and clothes, to relational needs like family, friends, peers and coworkers, new people to meet. To material/physical needs like warm blankets, good food to eat, fun games to play, things to learn, money to purchase fun things, new stuff to try, hobbies and talents to explore and new technological things. Especially spiritual needs such as trust and confidence in Christ, a new identity in His name, hope in the promises of today, and love for each other in the name of Jesus. The way He sees me, Kristin, and the way that He chose me is very specific to my heart. The way he looks at me is special-He calls me holy. He sees no shame in my heart. When he sees me, He delights in who He has made me to be. He sees me, Kristin, as no one else does-because He sees all of me and yet loves me the most unconditionally.Because He has chosen me purposefully, He has made me to be his precious daughter. His daughter in all aspects, not just in name only in an adopted sense, but in a completely whole way. He has chosen me from the beginning. It stirs His heart to see me live as He made me. His heart breaks when mine does. He laughs and smiles as I dance about from day to day. I delight in my Father and He delights in me.Because He loves me, He delights in me. He has freely given me a childlike heart that desires things that are pure and good. He has taken special care in the way He has made me. He has placed in me a love for people, and a concern for their hearts. He has woven through my life a special call on my life that will lead me to extraordinary things. Because of his death on the cross, He has forgiven me of everything I have ever done. He knows my heart longs for Him, and yet He knows my imperfections. He knows my heart wanders and longs for normalcy and to be blended within a crowd, and to not stand out all the time. He knows I desire to be liked, and sometimes will go to drastic lengths to prove it. He knows the moments when I get irritated and defensive, and how I can use my thoughts as weapons. Still he loves me fully and wholly.He has given me, Kristin, a deep understanding of how He longs for His children to come to Him. He has anointed my mouth with his amazing love for everyone He created. He has given me wisdom and understanding for the urgency of His message to be spread, even in the tiniest of hearts.Everything He does for me is for my good. All of the things He has led me to and through have worked together for my good. He sees the big picture. Even though things seem hazy and confusing and overwhelming, my God is at my side. Even though I feel out of my element, God doesn’t waste time and energy. Even though the grapes on the vine don’t seem like they are doing anything productive or moving forward, they need that time on the vine so they can grow.God knows the perfect timing for me and this situation. He knows when things will start to feel better and when things will stop hurting. He knows what I am feeling each day before I tell Him. He knows how I hide my feelings and pains mostly. Still everything works together for the good and everything good comes from God.Through this, I will praise His name. I will give glory to the one from whom all glory comes from. Christ desires my life to be a reflection of who He is. May my life reveal His glory in good situations and in bad ones. God has marked me with His blood. He has set me as a seal on His heart. He has purified my soul and called me His beautiful little girl. In Him, I am everything and in Him, I am complete.